When something suspicious happens, your bank or credit card company may try to call you. However, that low-tech solution is not foolproof.
Thieves have figured out how to keep working on your accounts while the bank calls you: they just flood your phone line so nobody can get through. They'll have computers repeatedly call you with a variety of recordings. Wired describes how one man's phone lines became useless:
"The perpetrators had flooded his three phones -- home land line, office line and cell phone -- for a month, with calls coming in every 30 seconds."
If you get a flood of strange phone calls, check to see what else is going wrong. You may be able to get your money back if it's taken through fraud, but it's best to minimize headaches - and profits for the scammers.
Also, remember that not every phone call "from the bank" is legitimate. If you're asked to key in an account number, hang up and call your bank.
[via Consumerist]
Further reading:
I salute Ameritrade for refund the money in a timely manner. AT&T’s solution was “change your number”. Unbelievable, but that is expected from AT&T. This is not a solution. Their service is not that great anyway.
There should be a way to trace the Voip telephone accounts and nail these crooks.